CHAPTER ONE: THE FESTIVAL OF REJECTION

LAILA

What would you do if you were rejected by your mate and asked by another Alpha to leave your pack to his?

The Harvest Festival was the biggest celebration of the year for our pack.

Wolves came from all over to trade, make alliances and celebrate the full moon together.

This year, five different Alphas had come with their packs.I put on my nicest dress - a simple blue one that my friend Sarah had given me for my birthday.

I braided my hair carefully and tried to cover my fading bruises with makeup.

I am still hurt and angry about what I heard yesterday, but I held my head high.

If Damien was going to trash our relationship in front of everyone, I wasn't going to make it easy for him by crying or at least I'll try not to cry.

The festival was held in the big clearing in the center of our territory close to the pack house.

There were colorful banners hanging from the trees, tables full of delicious food, and a stage where the pack leaders would make speeches.

I walked through the crowd, looking for Damien.

People stared at me strangely, like they knew something I didn't. Some of them whispered when I walked by.

Finally, I saw Damien standing near the stage with Vivian. They weren't trying to hide anymore, that's when I realized everyone had already accepted her over me.

His arm was around her waist, and she was wearing a beautiful red dress that probably cost more than everything I owned.

I walked up to them, my heart beating very fast.

"Hello, Damien," I said quietly.

He turned around and looked at me with cold eyes. There was no warmth there at all. No love. Maybe there never had been.

"Laila," he said. "Perfect timing."

"We need to talk," I said, trying to keep my voice steady.

"Actually, we do." Damien smiled, but it wasn't a nice smile. "In fact, I think everyone needs to hear what I have to say."

He walked up onto the stage and took the microphone. The whole festival got quiet as everyone looked up at him.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Damien said in a loud, clear voice.

"I have an important announcement to make."

I felt sick to my stomach. This was it. This was when my whole world was going to fall apart.

"As you know, two years ago I claimed Laila Ashwood as my mate," Damien continued.

"But today, I must correct a terrible mistake."

Everyone turned to look at me. I felt like I was going to throw up, but I stood up straight and didn't look away.

"You see," Damien said, "I have discovered some very disturbing information about Laila's true parentage. Information that changes everything."

"What are you talking about?" I called out, even though my voice was shaking.

"Tell them, Uncle Theodore," Damien said, looking at my uncle who was standing with the other pack leaders.

My uncle stepped forward. He looked sad, but I could see something else in his eyes. Guilt.

"Laila," Uncle Theodore said quietly, "your father was not a werewolf."

The whole crowd gasped. I felt the ground spin under my feet.

"What?" I whispered."Your mother, she was raped by a human," Uncle Theodore continued.

"You are half-human, Laila. That's why you can't shift. That's why you're so weak."

"No," I said, shaking my head. "That's not true. My parents were both werewolves. You told me they died in a car accident when I was little."

"I lied to protect you," Uncle Theodore said. "But now that you're mated, the truth must come out. You are an abomination. A half-breed who has no place in our world."

And to make sure everyone knows what she really is," Vivian said, stepping up onto the stage.

"let me tell you what else we discovered. Laila's mother wasn't just raped by her lover, she was raped by a gang of drunk human men and they were her lovers friends. Her mother died of shame. Luna is nothing but the unwanted child of a whore and a coward."

The crowd started talking loudly. I heard words like "disgusting" and "unnatural" and "freak."

Damien smiled wider. "Now you understand why I cannot remain mated to such a creature. I Damien Holden, Beta of Silver Creek Pack under the rule of Alpha Theodore reject you Laila Ashwood, as my mate. You are not worthy of any true werewolf."

The rejection hit me like a physical blow. I felt something tear inside my chest, like my heart was being ripped in half.

The pain was so bad I couldn't breathe. I fell to my knees in the dirt, clutching my chest.

The crowd laughed and pointed at me. I felt like I was dying from the pain and humiliation.

"Get out of our territory," Uncle Theodore said coldly. "Half-breeds are not welcome here."

I tried to stand up, but the rejection pain was too strong. Everything hurt. My chest felt like it was on fire, and my head was spinning.

"Please," I whispered, but no one would help me.

Then, suddenly, the crowd got very quiet. Everyone was looking at something behind me.

A deep voice spoke, and I recognized it immediately.

"That's enough."I turned around, still on my knees, and saw him.

Alpha Kieran Blackthorne stood at the edge of the crowd, his silver eyes blazing with anger.

He looked terrifying and magnificent at the same time. He walked through the crowd, and everyone moved out of his way quickly.

When he reached me, he knelt down beside me."Are you hurt, little wolf?" he asked softly, his voice gentle despite the fury in his eyes.

I nodded, unable to speak through the pain. Kieran stood up and faced the stage. When he looked at Damien, his expression was deadly.

"You call yourself leaders ?You are not even worthy to be called werewolves " Kieran said, his voice carrying across the whole festival.

"You are nothing but a coward who hurts defenseless females."

"She's not defenseless," Damien said, but he sounded scared now. "She's an abomination. A half-breed."

"And you are a disgrace," Kieran replied coldly. "A true Alpha protects the weak, not destroys them."

He turned to look at the other Alphas who were watching. "Is this how your packs treat rejected mates? Like garbage to be thrown away?"

Some of the Alphas looked ashamed. Others nodded in agreement with Kieran.

Kieran knelt down beside me again. "Laila," he said quietly. "Come with me to my pack. I want you by my side Laila"

I looked up at him through my wide teary eyes. His silver eyes were kind, just like they had been by the river. Everyone gasped.

"Why would you want someone like me?" I whispered. "I'm broken. I'm a half-breed. I'm nothing."

"You are not nothing," Kieran said firmly.

"You are a wolf who deserves respect and safety. Both of which I can give you."I looked around at all the faces staring at me.

Some looked disgusted. Some looked sad. But none of them looked like they cared what happened to me.

Then I looked back at Kieran. He was offering me a chance to leave this horrible place. To start over somewhere new.

I thought about staying here, where everyone now knew my shameful secret.

Where Damien and Vivian would always remind me of how worthless I was.

Where my uncle had lied to me my whole life.

Or I could go with this powerful Alpha who had already saved me once.

"Laila, I give you my word as an Alpha to protect and honour you as mine. You don't need to be here anymore." Kieran said solemnly.

My legs were shaky from the rejection pain, but Kieran reached out and held me steady.

As he steadied me I heard people talking behind us.

"Can you believe she's half-human?"

"No wonder she couldn't shift."

"She must have bewitched Alpha Kieran for him to take her in."

"How can the Alpha of the largest territory want someone like her?"

"She surely bewitched him"

Each word hurt, but not as much as the rejection. That pain was still burning in my chest like fire.

Even if Alpha Kieran decides to sell me off or do any of the other horrible things people said about him, it didn't matter anymore.

Alpha Kieran heard the nasty words they said as his eyes flashed dangerously.

"You have said enough for one day. I suggest you keep quiet before I decide to teach you all some manners." He said as power rolled out in waves from him.

I could see most pack members face went pale, and they stepped back a bit.

"Laila come with me" Alpha Kieran said again looking straight into my eyes.

More tears streamed down my face.

I didn't have anything to live for anymore.

Going with him wouldn't matter right?